No Beast So Fierce: The Champawat Tiger and Her Hunter, the First Tiger Conservationist
Written by Dane Huckelbridge
Narrated by Corey Snow
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
The deadliest animal of all time meets the world's most legendary hunter in a classic battle between man and wild. But this pulse-pounding narrative is also a nuanced story of how colonialism and environmental destruction upset the natural order, placing man, tiger and nature on a collision course.
In Champawat, India, circa 1900, a Bengal tigress was wounded by a poacher in the forests of the Himalayan foothills. Unable to hunt her usual prey, the tiger began stalking and eating an easier food source: human beings. Between 1900 and 1907, the Champawat Man-Eater, as she became known, emerged as the most prolific serial killer of human beings the world has ever known, claiming an astonishing 436 lives.
Desperate for help, authorities appealed to renowned local hunter Jim Corbett, an Indian-born Brit of Irish descent, who was intimately familiar with the Champawat forest. Corbett, who would later earn fame and devote the latter part of his life to saving the Bengal tiger and its habitat, sprang into action. Like a detective on the tail of a serial killer, he tracked the tiger’s movements, as the tiger began to hunt him in return.
This was the beginning of Corbett’s life-long love of tigers, though his first encounter with the Champawat Tiger would be her last.
Dane Huckelbridge
Dane Huckelbridge has written for the Wall Street Journal, Tin House, The New Republic, and New Delta Review. He is the author of Bourbon: A History of the American Spirit; The United States of Beer: The True Tale of How Beer Conquered America, From B.C. to Budweiser and Beyond; and a novel, Castle of Water, which has been optioned for film. A graduate of Princeton University, he lives in Paris.
More audiobooks from Dane Huckelbridge
Castle of Water: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The United States of Beer: A Freewheeling History of the All-American Drink Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, the Deadliest Animal in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for No Beast So Fierce
44 ratings7 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Part social history, part natural history, part conservation treatise, part detective story, No Beast So Fierce is a comprehensive description of the reign of terror one tigress had over sections of Nepal and India at the turn of the twentieth century. I had come across mentions of the Champawat Tiger several times in my reading, and since my reading was in fiction, I wasn't aware that this tigress was real. When I stumbled across Huckelbridge's book, I knew I had to read it, especially since tigers are one of my two favorite big cats.One of the most important things Huckelbridge did for me in his book was to give me a much greater respect for tigers. I knew they were marvelous creatures but didn't really understand just how wonderful they are. A tiger is "nature's nearest equivalent to a short-range missile," and to put what the Champawat Tiger did into perspective, she "very nearly consumed the entire NBA."Hearing this, many people would want nothing more than to kill the tigress and put an end to the whole thing. Done and dusted. No more thought required. The second important thing Huckelbridge does in No Beast So Fierce is to prove that the Champawat Tiger was an entirely man-made disaster. Through many thoughtless government decisions, the tigress's killing field was created, and for anyone interested in the natural world, it is fascinating to read how this was done.The third important thing that Huckelbridge did was to bring Jim Corbett to my attention. The final scenes where he and the Champawat Tiger meet are extremely tense and almost gave me the impression that I'd fallen into a thriller, and although his success meant that Corbett became the Go-To man for tracking and killing man-eaters, fate had much more in store for him. Corbett wasn't just a killer. In fact, he became one of the stalwarts of the conservation effort to save the Royal Bengal tiger.If you love wildlife and want to immerse yourself in an engrossing piece of history, I suggest reading No Beast So Fierce. It's an eye-opener and proves once again that if some species of wildlife becomes a "problem" we humans need to look to ourselves to see what we did to create it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What a tigress. An incredible story well told. The book would have been even better if the author wasn't so fixated on explaining the inexact nature of the victim head count back at the turn of the century. We get it--it was hundreds of people, but some deaths may have remained un/undercounted or a few may have been victims of another tiger wrongly attributed to the Champawat. I hope this interesting book inspires more people to help save this magnificent apex predator from extinction--our world would be a much poorer place without the Bengal in it.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5One tiger, 436 kills at the turn of the 20th century. The premise had me hooked, but the author got caught up in all of his research and the incredible real events get lost in an onslaught of historical detail about colonialism. There are some thrilling passages and it was all interesting, but a book with this subject matter shouldn’t be as boring as it often was.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Amazing. Learned so much about Nepal, colonial history, tigers, natives, royal hunts. Message is about eroding habitats and the pressure that puts on critical balance of nature. Old story, contemporary and historical lesson. Highly recommended.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A very interesting story of a man eating tiger. One small complaint would be that the author guesses a little too much about what Jim Corbett must be thinking. Also, while the description of the political situation in Nelpal and Indian is interesting, the author tells us too often that the man eaters are created by the British Colonial policies. The first time he tell us, it is fascinating, the 4th, I did want to say I got it the first few times! Overall though, an engrossing story about tigers, India, and Jim Corbett, a tiger conservationist who originally became known as a hunter of man eaters.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I only know a slight bit of information about the Champawat Tiger. Therefore, I found this book to be very interesting to learn about animals from other countries. To be honest, when I think of "deadly" animals; the Champawat Tiger is not one that makes the top ten list. However, after reading this book it is right up in the top animals of the world. This is no joke as the Champawat Tiger held four hundred and thirty six kills before Jim Corbett killed him. Although, reading this book, I can imagine in those moments when Jim killed the Champawat Tiger that it was with some remorse and respect for the beast. Mr. Huckelbridge writes as a good storyteller. He provided plenty of details without allowing the book to be bogged down with details. Also, it felt as if I was transported back in time and stepped into Jim's shoes as he hunted the Champawat Tiger. Anyone who likes to read nonfiction books, should pick up a copy of this book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The true story of a Bengal tiger that killed over 400 people in Nepal and India a little over 100 years ago. I had no idea of how efficient a killing machine tigers are and how many people they have killed over the years. One instant you are standing at the edge of the woods and the next the tiger is already sprinting away with another victim in its mouth. Chilling. All set within the backdrop of the Indian subcontinent and the changes over the years leading to more human deaths. Nonfiction fans will eat this one up. Sorry for the bad pun...